I didn't have to spend much time at Flavor Fest to taste what it was all about.
In fact it took me just 15 minutes to eat a delicious rice and pork dish from Cafe Viejo San Juan, pasta and a frank from Metro, an egg roll from Pho Cafe Saigon, chicken and dumplings from Uncle Bubba's, chips and salsa from Ninfa's, chips and salsa from Food For Thought, fajitas from Tres and peanut butter frozen yogurt from Oso's Oh So Good Yogurt. I might have consumed even more than this. It all happened so fast.
This seems like a lot of food and the kind of rapid-fire eating that could shut a person down for a while. But they were generally small portions. Cafe Viejo San Juan generously served up a decent sized bowl, easily the largest portion offered, but generally the items were two or three bites worth.
So the different varieties of food settled just fine and I didn't have to worry about dinner afterward.
Also, it would have been possible for a person to slowly work their way through the booths. If I had a group to help me pace myself, things might have been different. What can I say? My date bailed on me, which has a way of happening. And my backup friends were too lazy on a Tuesday night. So instead of standing around awkwardly, I darted from food station to food station like a sample-eating Tasmanian Devil.
For what it's worth, plenty of people seemed to be leisurely enjoying themselves.
When I entered the Waco Convention Center, I was given a ballot to choose my favorite dishes in different categories. I didn't bother with it and I have no idea who won. It didn't' seem like a competitive situation anyway.
The best thing about Flavor Fest was the chance to get to know new restaurants. Everyone I talked to mentioned tasting food from a restaurant they either had never heard of or had heard of but hadn't had a chance to try yet. I actually discovered three places that will be added to the WacoFork directory today.
In that regard, I feel like Cafe Viejo San Juan had to be a big winner. Joseph and Alexandra Parilla gave Fest-goers a choice of rices and dishes that I bet entices them to stop into CVSJ's La Salle location.
Pho Cafe Saigon, the China Spring Vietnamese restaurant, did well too. I talked to owner Paul Tran a little before 7 p.m. and he had already run out of food.
Kudos to Power108 FM, 106.7 Doc FM and whatever other radio stations drove this event. They did a good job of pulling their listening audience and a decent representation of Waco restaurants into the convention center.
Next year, though, they need to go big and get Justin Bieber to provide the musical entertainment.
